China is urging the US Government to take effective
measures to eliminate the negative impact of an act recently
passed by the US Congress and ratified by President George
W. Bush on Sino-US relations. He Yafei, Director of
the North American and Oceanic Affairs Department of the
Foreign Ministry, met Michael W. Marine, minister of the US
Embassy in China on Agust 3 and lodged a formal
representation over the US act. The US Congress
recently adopted the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act
for the Further Recovery from and Response to Terrorist
Attacks on the United States, which includes many provisions
relating to Taiwan. The provisions of the act on
protecting US military personnel place Taiwan in the same
category as other US allies, including those in NATO, thus
ranking Taiwan military and administrative personnel at the
same level as personnel of other US allies, and calling for
the immunity of such Taiwanese personnel from the
jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. He
said the Chinese side sternly demanded the US side see
clearly the pernicious nature of the act, scrupulously abide
by the principles enshrined in the three Sino-US joint
communiques, explicitly oppose the provisions relating to
Taiwan, and take effective steps to do away with their
negative influences to keep Sino-US relations from being
seriously undermined. Marine said he would forward
the representations of China to his government accurately
and faithfully and reaffirmed the US position on one-China
policy remained unchanged. The Foreign Affairs
Committee of the China's National People's Congress (NPC)
issued a statement on Saturday criticizing the US
legislation. The NPC expressed "strong
indignation at, and resolute opposition" to US
interference in China's internal affairs by its exploitation
of the Taiwan question and its breaking of its commitment to
the three Sino-US joint communiques. Kong Quan,
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the US act
seriously violates the principles of the three Sino-US joint
communiques, runs counter to the one-China policy that the
US Government has repeatedly declared support for, and
irresponsibly interferes in China's internal affairs, Kong
said. He said China has made repeated presentations
to the US Government, which has failed to take effective
measures to stop the passage of the act, although it has
expressed opposition to the provisions within it.
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